Highland Falls, New York
43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Highlands town. It lies in ZIP code area 10928. It stands on Highland Brook. The Survey maps it on the Peekskill quadrangle. 3,684 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 144 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1892 to 1986The same ground, surveyed 94 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Highland Falls
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 11 records
Church of the Holy Innocents and Rectorylisted 1982
First Presbyterian Church of Highland Fallslisted 1982
Highland Falls Railroad Depotlisted 1982
Highland Falls Village Halllisted 1982
House at 116 Main Streetlisted 1982
House at 37 Center Streetlisted 1982
Parry Houselisted 1982
Pine Terracelisted 1982
Squirrels, Thelisted 1982
Stonihurstlisted 1982- Webb Lane Houselisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresHighland Falls fell from 3,900 to 3,684 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,900 | |
| 2020 | 3,684 | -216 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
16 surveys from 43 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1892 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1899 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500, 12 printings
- 1936 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500
- 1936 USGS West Point quadrangle1:48000
- 1941 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1947 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Peekskill quadrangle1:24000
- 1947 USGS West Point quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Peekskill quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1961 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1965 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Bridgeport quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
370 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 370 fires within 5 miles of Highland Falls between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,841 acres in total. 37 started naturally. 43 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 43 |
| Natural | 37 |
| Smoking | 23 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 19 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 13 |
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 8 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 3.8 acres | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 8 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | NA |
| 8 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 7 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 7 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 7 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 6 September 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 27 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 27 workings within 5 miles of Highland Falls: 17 past producers, 7 occurrences, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Sulfur, Sulfur. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bog Meadow Pond Deposit | Zirconium | Occurrence | ||
| Canopus Mine | Iron, Titanium | Past Producer | 1912 | |
| Canopus Nelson Magnetite Mine | Iron, Titanium, Metal | Past Producer | 1912 | |
| Constitution Island Occurrence | Molybdenum | Occurrence | ||
| Cotton Rock Stilbite Deposit | Zeolites | Occurrence | ||
| Kinnaird Graphite Property Deposit | Graphite | Occurrence | ||
| Phillips Mine | Molybdenum, Uranium | Occurrence | Replacement | |
| Phillips Mine | Sulfur-Pyrite, Iron, Uranium | Past Producer | 1865, 1880 | |
| Phillips Mine-Camp Smith Area | Cobalt, Copper, Gold, Nickel, Silver, Uranium | Past Producer | 1866 | |
| Phillips Sulfide, Magnetite Mine | Iron, Uranium, Copper, Gold, Nickel, Silver, Sulfur | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
18 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Highland Falls in 18 storm reports between 2000 and 2024: 11 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2000 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | $500,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highland Falls | $6,000 | Large tree fell onto a house on Cedar Lane. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highland Falls | $5,000 | Numerous reports of trees and wires down around town...including trees down at the intersection of 9W and State Route 293 and 9W and State Route 218. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highland Falls | $3,000 | Trees were reported down in Highland Falls, including along Route 9W and Route 118. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highland Falls | $2,000 | Wires down on Walnut Avenue. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highland Falls | $1,000 | Wires were reported down in the southbound lane of US Route 9W near Highland Falls. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Multiple people trapped in RVs at the Highland Falls RV Park. Flooding is ongoing and Fire Department is responding. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Route 9W is washed out in both directions. Boulders blocking the roadway between Fort Montgomery and Highland Falls. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Significant flooding ongoing on main Street. Multiple cars have flowing water up to the tops of them. Swift water rescues ongoing. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Two people trapped in vehicle submerged in flood waters on Eagle Valley Road. Fire Department Responding. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Spotter video shows Route 9W at 218 Junction flooded and impassible. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Two persons trapped in vehicle in flood waters. Fire Department responding. |
| August 2010 | Heavy Rain | Highland Falls | - | A car traveling on Route 9W in Highland Falls hydroplaned from the heavy rain, spun off the road, hit a rock and then hit the guard rail. A passenger in the back seat, who was pregnant, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at Cornwall Hospital. Two other passengers also sustained minor injuries. A Cocorahs observer in Cold Spring, 4 miles NE of the accident in Putnam County, reported 5.29 inches of total rainfall. |
| August 2009 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | All lanes were closed northbound and southbound on NY 218 between Cornwall-on-Hudson and West Point due to flooding. |
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | Route 218 was closed in both directions between West Point Academy and the Cornwall line due to flooding. A National Weather Service Cooperative Observer reported a storm total rainfall amount of 2.00 inches in West Point. |
| September 2008 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | State Highway 218 was closed in both directions between Cornwall and West Point due to flooding. |
| October 2005 | Flash Flood | Highland Falls | - | no account filed |
| September 2003 | Heavy Rain | Highland Falls | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Point | 1.6 miles | 42 | |
| North Dock | 2.0 miles | 42 | |
| Fort Montgomery | 2.8 miles | 43 | |
| Cornwall Landing | 5.4 miles | 35 | |
| Cornwall-on-Hudson | 5.8 miles | 35 | |
| Mountainville | 6.3 miles | 35 | |
| Firthcliffe | 6.4 miles | 35 | |
| Orrs Mill | 6.6 miles | 35 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Highland Falls | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1020598 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 970209. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.















